Tibet

Nature reserves to protect plateau

Four large nature reserves, occupying 550,000 square km in western China, said on Tuesday that they are forming an alliance to protect the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The announcement came at the third conference on environmental protection, which was held in the Tibet autonomous region's Ali prefecture.

Officials from the four nature reserves - the Tibetan Chiangtang Nature Reserve, Qinghai Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, Qinghai Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve and Xinjiang Altun Mountain Nature Reserve - agreed to establish an alliance administration that will be charged with coordinating affairs among the four reserves.

Beijing

Farm produce price hikes continue

The prices of Chinese farm produce continued to increase last week after heavy rain fell across the country, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

The wholesale prices of 18 types of vegetables increased in 36 cities for a third week in a row, going up 5.7 percent week-on-week, according to the ministry.

Food prices constitute nearly a third of the prices used to calculate China's consumer price index, which eased to 2.2 percent in June.

Subsidies stabilize appliance sales

A national subsidy program for rural consumers helped bring stability to sales of home appliances in rural China amid an economic slowdown in the first seven months of the year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

The central government spent 10.9 billion yuan ($1.72 billion) to subsidize home appliances sold in rural areas during the period, a number up 19.2 percent year-on-year, according to ministry data.

In the first half of the year, 43.87 million units of home appliances were sold in the countryside, up 7.2 percent from the year before.

Land allocated for low-income housing

China has allocated more than 20,000 hectares of land to support the construction of low-income housing this year, an official with the Ministry of Land and Resources said on Tuesday.

The country plans to distribute 47,600 hectares of land for low-income housing projects in 2012, more than the 43,600 hectares allocated last year, Vice-Minister Hu Cunzhi said at a seminar about low-income housing policies.

China has encouraged the construction of more low-income housing in recent years, as quickly increasing housing prices have prompted public complaints.

Yunnan

15 dead, 9 missing in natural disasters

Fifteen people were killed and nine others were left missing in natural disasters that occurred in Southwest China's Yunnan province in the first half of the year, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Floods hit the province hard in July, resulting in direct economic losses of 87 million yuan ($13.72 million), the provincial department of land and resources said.

Statistics from the department showed that 233 disasters struck the province from the beginning of July to Sunday.

Hubei

Motorists use fake permits to shun tolls

Drivers of private vehicles in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, have used fake permits similar with those issued by flood control authorities to avoid paying highway tolls, local media reported on Wednesday.

Since the city's flood season arrived in July, a toll station on the highway linking Wuhan's Hankou and Huangpi districts has recorded more than 2,400 instances in which drivers of private vehicles tried to avoid paying tolls by using fake permits that were made to look like legitimate documents issued by the local flood control and drought relief headquarters, the Wuhan Evening News reported.

Hunan

Probe launched into petition case

Authorities in Hunan province have launched an investigation into a case in which a mother was sent to a re-education center after petitioning for justice for her daughter who was raped and forced into prostitution at age 11.

Tang Hui, 39, was sent to a re-education center in Yongzhou for 18 months on Aug 2, sparking public anger and prompting local authorities to look deeper into the case.

"We will further investigate the case and make corrections in accordance with the law," said Liu Xianhua, head of an investigation team with the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of Hunan provincial Party committee.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 08/09/2012 page2)